Bridgewater State president target of threat

The threat against the BSC president was among of six messages found in two days on walls or stalls of women’s bathrooms on campus.

Alice C. Elwell

A written threat against the life of Bridgewater State College President Dana Mohler-Faria was found in a women’s bathroom in the Rondileau Campus Center on Wednesday morning, said David Ostroth, vice president of student affairs who oversees the campus police.

With the assistance of the Emergency Response Team, Mohler-Faria decided that classes will be held as usual today and he will remain on campus as planned. He will be protected by a bodyguard.

The police presence has been doubled following the discovery of two more threats on Wednesday.

Today and into Friday, the 235-acre campus, its 35 buildings and 10,000 students will be heavily patrolled and monitored, Ostroth said.

Ostroth said there were six threats on campus in all, four found Tuesday and two found Wednesday, written in black marker across walls or in the stalls of women’s bathrooms. Other than the threat made to Mohler-Faria, none were specific.

Today’s date, “Death” and “Murder” were used in the graffiti messages, Ostroth said.

“It’s a problem for colleges. Prank or crank, we can’t take it for granted with the kinds of shootings there’s been on campuses,” Ostroth said, adding these are the first “threats of this magnitude this school has received.”

“We have taken this very seriously, I don’t think in this day and age we can be cavalier about it,” Ostroth said.

A crisis team evaluated the threats and determined the campus would be kept open, but Ostroth has told teachers to use their own judgment when it comes to attendance.

Some students said they don’t feel they have a choice and plan to attend classes.

“My parents said don’t go,” said Whitney Sawicki, 21 who lives off-campus in Bridgewater. “I’m really torn. I have work due, things I have to get done.”

She said the school’s Web site said students have to attend classes, “or face the consequences.”

Despite the stepped-up police presence, Sawicki said, “Regardless, I don’t know how I can feel safe and concentrate.”

With the discovery of six threats, Sawicki said, “It makes me really nervous. We’re going to be walking around at the risk of a shooting.”

Students say the campus is gripped in a state of fear that is mounting as more violent messages are found.

“I have to go to my first class, I have an assignment due, but I’m debating about going to the second class. I’m a little reluctant,” said Caroline Fortin, a student who lives off-campus, but nearby.

“Everyone’s confused,” Fortin said.

Students were alerted to Tuesday’s graffiti through email, but Stephen White, 19, of Freetown, said, “The email was highly uninformative.”

He would have liked to get “some useful information from it,” but said he was not worried and immediately deleted the email.

Charlene Horne, 20, of Shrewsbury said the threat is “probably fake because most shooters don’t bother with warnings, they just do it.”

She thinks the threat was “ridiculous,” but the school had to respond.

The school is also offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who made the threats, but Ostroth said as of Wednesday no one had come forward with information.

Bryan Baldwin, chief of staff for the college president, said police were extra vigilant Wednesday, conducting sweeps throughout the campus.

Hoax or a prank, Baldwin said the threats are serious and students should make their own judgment about attending classes.

Also on Wednesday, a bomb threat on the campus of Framingham State College caused the evacuation of Hemenway Hall, the school’s main classroom building.

The building was evacuated at 1:30 p.m. after a threat was found scrawled on toilet paper in one of the female restrooms. The note said a bomb would go off on campus on Friday.

Authorities, along with their bomb-sniffing dogs, searched the building, but found no bomb.

“The note indicated that there was a possibility of a bomb that would go off to also include guns and that the building would blow up,” said Brad Medeiros, chief of FSC campus police, at a press conference on Wednesday.

“With everything that’s going on across the country and with other notes that are being received by other colleges throughout Massachusetts lately, we’re not taking any chances,” said Medeiros.

Security was also increased at Bridgewater schools in the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District, including the Burnell Elementary School on the campus of Bridgewater State College.

The Burnell School was built in the late 1970s as a laboratory school for BSC elementary education students to gain classroom teaching experience.

The building is under the direction of the Bridgewater-Raynham district.

“We did have all our schools in Bridgewater on heightened security, ensuring all the doors are locked, visitors coming to the building are buzzed in … we do have very, very strong plans in place,” said B-R Superintendent George Guasconi, noting a police officer will be at the Burnell School for the rest of the week.

They were also told that all contact with BSC student teachers has been suspended for the rest of the week.